


Snowflake

by Laurasauras



Series: 2019 Holiday ficlets [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-13
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:47:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21778546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laurasauras/pseuds/Laurasauras
Summary: For the first day of Christmas, Karkat picks Jake up from the airport.
Relationships: Jake English/Karkat Vantas
Series: 2019 Holiday ficlets [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1569544
Comments: 10
Kudos: 31





	Snowflake

**Author's Note:**

> I've been wanting to write Australian Jake for two years. Thanks to Coin for the pairing prompt!

#### 1st Day of Christmas: Snowflake

_Okay,_ Karkat tells himself. _Here’s when you realise you’ve been catfished._

The airport is crowded, more so than Karkat has ever seen it, but then he’s never been stupid enough to travel around Christmas before either. Not that he’s travelling now, just picking up the man who has definitely been lying to him for six months, probably. It’s basically impossible that someone like Jake English could exist, and much _more_ impossible that he could want anything to do with Karkat.

Karkat recognises him immediately, because there’s not a single other person in the universe who would show up to JFK airport in _December_ in shorts and t-shirt. Karkat is frozen at first, watching Jake hitch his duffle higher on his shoulder as he scans the crowd in arrivals. He’s real. Of course he is. No one could _fake_ being Jake. 

Karkat forces himself to move, to squeeze through shoulders until he’s at the metal bar that gives the arrivals space to breathe and wave his hand. Jake catches sight of him and breaks into a dazzling smile that selfies absolutely did not accurately capture and then jerks his head to the left. Karkat pushes back through the crowd to meet him where he can … meet him. 

It’s awkward, being within a couple of feet of someone who he knows more intimately than anyone else and yet doesn’t know at all. Can he kiss him? Can he even _hug_ him? Maybe Jake liked the penpal thing because they didn’t have to interact physically.

Karkat stares into Jake’s distressingly green eyes for what feels like longer than he’s ever stared at anything, until Jake closes the distance with two strides and wraps Karkat up in his arms. He might have exaggerated about his biceps being the size of watermelons, but he’s still strong and warm despite the seasonally inappropriate clothes and _oh my God, it’s Jake._

‘Hi,’ Karkat says, his voice coming out kind of strangled because of how tightly Jake is hugging him. ‘Feel free to greet your boyfriend with the kind of embrace that doesn’t end up with punctured fucking lungs, you giant knobhead.’

‘That’s even better in person!’ Jake says, swinging Karkat in his arms on every word. Karkat’s toes are barely grazing the floor at this point, but he can’t find it in himself to stop smiling. He’s not letting go of Jake either.

Jake finally puts Karkat down and hikes his duffle up again. Karkat doesn’t quite know how to close that distance again and kiss him, so he punches him in the arm instead. The bare arm. 

‘Jake, what are you wearing? It’s December.’

‘Yes, and it’s cold this side,’ Jake says, nodding seriously. ‘So I wore my longer pair of shorts and I have a pair of tracky dacks in my bag for if it gets real nippy. Onwards?’

Karkat looks at Jake hopelessly and decides that there’s nothing that will illustrate his point better than going outside. Even his biggest, most ill-fitting jumper will probably stretch tight over Jake’s form, they’ll absolutely need to go shopping. He _explained_ that Jake would need warm clothes. 

‘The movies on the flight, Karkat,’ Jake says, knocking his elbow to Karkat’s shoulder. ‘I had the best run. Didn’t have a Buckley’s of taking a kip, they were just bloody rippers!’

‘You watched movies the whole time instead of sleeping,’ Karkat half-translates, half-asks. 

‘Yeah, nah, yeah, but it wasn’t a bad thing,’ Jake says. ‘You know I’d never seen _27 Dresses?_ Pretty sure I wouldn’t stand a shot in person if I didn’t get up to date on that one, am I right?’

Karkat shakes his head exasperatingly. They walk out into the wintry chill of New York and Karkat watches Jake’s face for a reaction. He’s not disappointed, the face journey he goes on is something to be treasured. At first he seems confused, then _betrayed_ by the cold, before fiercely determined and then he laughs as his face relaxes back into his natural smiling expression.

‘Okay, so it’s as fucking cold as a witch’s tit,’ he says matter-of-factly. 

‘Language,’ someone hisses at him.

Jake jumps and moves a step closer to Karkat. The incongruity of his enormous boyfriend flinching away from an old lady makes Karkat wrap his arms protectively around him, hiding his smile in case Jake’s actually hurt.

‘That was the clean version,’ Jake says, baffled. ‘I know you’re not as casual with words for the old lady purse over here.’

‘No, never say that again,’ Karkat groans into Jake’s thin t-shirt.

Jake wrinkles his nose adorably. Karkat has loved that nose since the very first selfie, it carries the character of his face and somehow makes him look on the verge of telling a joke at all times. Or maybe that’s just Karkat projecting what he’d already known about Jake onto his face. 

‘Please can we get into a taxi before my testicles go the way of the dinosaurs?’ Jake murmurs into Karkat’s hair. 

Karkat steps reluctantly away and Jake follows him towards the always moving rank out the front of the airport. It takes them further from the shelter of the building, and Karkat shoves his hands in his pockets as he walks. He’s about to get in a cab when he looks back to see where Jake’s gotten to.

Jake is looking up at the sky, clear wonder on his face. He holds his hand out and Karkat watches as a snowflake lands on his dark skin and immediately melts. Jake shakes the water off and grins at Karkat. Karkat holds out his coat sleeve and catches a snowflake himself.

‘Have you not seen snow before?’

‘Never went,’ Jake murmurs. He’s explained that snow is a place to travel to in Australia before, but it still sounds ridiculous. But Karkat isn’t thinking about that as Jake bends down to see the snow he caught on his sleeve. 

He can see too clearly how to close that distance now, and he hopes he isn’t about to fuck up in doing so. He drops his arm and Jake looks at him in surprise at the abrupt movement before Karkat presses his lips to Jake’s. Somehow, illogically, they’re warmer than Karkat’s.

When Karkat goes to move back, Jake follows him enough that he stays right the fuck where he is and kisses him properly. When they finally break apart the cab has moved on, but Karkat couldn’t care less.

‘Crickey,’ Jake says. Then he winces. ‘Wow, of all the cliche things to say. You must think I’m such a galah.’

‘Yeah,’ Karkat says. ‘I mean, probably, if I knew what the fuck a galah was.’


End file.
